Educational toy



July 11, 1961 L. MOORE ETAL 2,991,561

EDUCATIONAL TOY Filed Sept. 10. 1959 Fig.3 36 Leroy Moore 38 40 Dorothy5. Moore INVENTORS BY Mm United States Patent 2,991,561 EDUCATIONAL TOYLeroy Moore and Dorothy S. Moore, both of 1728 Piedmont, Jackson, Miss.Filed Sept. 10, 1959, Ser. No. 839,146 Claims. (Cl. 35-8) This inventionrelates to toys and more particularly to an educational toy for childrenin a low age group.

An object of the invention is to provide a very amusing educational toyfor children which includes a receptacle equipped with a door capable ofbeing opened and closed to provide ingress and egress for small figures.The door is held in a closed position by means of a lace that can beengaged with the receptacle by fitting the different shaped tips of thelace in specially shaped eyelet openings. Therefore it requires the useof a particular intelligence level for a child to complete the procedureof inserting and removing the figures from the receptacle.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the entire apparatusforming the educational toy.

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the receptacle with the door in the openposition.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the lace with specially shaped eyeletsused with the receptacle in FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a figure to be fitted into thereceptacle and removed therefrom.

In the accompanying drawings there is a receptacle in the form of ashoe. As such, it has a sole 12, a heel 14, sides 16 and 18 togetherwith an opening 18 defined by the edges 20 and 21 of the sides of theshoe. Although the blucher type shoe is shown it is evident that thistype is subject to change.

The top of the shoe is closed by means of a panel 22 extendingthereacross and rigidly secured in place. It is preferred that aflexible plastic be used as the material of construction, for examplepolyethylene. Panel 22 makes it impossible to insert or remove anythingfrom the interior of the shoe that forms the receptacle. The only waythat an object for example object 24 which is in the shape of a smallpig, may be inserted in the receptacle is through opening 18 which iscontrolled by a door 26. Since the receptacle is a shoe, the door is inthe form of a tongue capable of swinging to the open (FIG- URE 2) andclosed positions (FIGURE 1) by the inherent flexibility of the materialof construction of the shoe. Further, although one object 24 is shown inthe drawing, many different shapes may be adopted such as other animals,small figurines, etc.

There are two groups and 32 of openings adjacent to edges 20 and 22.Alternate openings are of one shape while the balance of the openingsare of another shape. For instance, the upper opening of group 32 is inthe shape of a triangle while the upper opening of group 30 is in theshape of a circle. Lace 36 is equipped with a pair of tips 38 and 40.Tip 40 is cylindrical, but tip 38 is made of a triangular solidconfiguration so that the triangular tip will not enter the circularopenings and the cylindrical tip will not enter the triangular openingsand vice versa.

In use and operation the lace must be removed before the tongue formingdoor 26 can be opened. When it is opened, the figurines may be insertedor removed from the shoe. After the figures are all in the shoe, it isnot possible to lace the shoe unless the proper tips are placed in theproper openings of groups 30 and 32.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An educational toy comprising a receptacle provided with walls, saidreceptacle having an opening, a door movably connected with thereceptacle and controlling said opening, said opening having edgesdefined by edges of adjacent walls of said receptacle, said walls havinggroups of apertures therein of non-uniform shape, a lace insertedthrough the apertures for retaining said door in the closed position,and dissimilar shaped tips at the ends of said lace and of across-sectional shape similar to the shapes of the apertures of saidgroups.

2. An educational toy comprising a receptacle provided with walls, saidreceptacle having an opening, a door movably connected with thereceptacle and controlling said opening, said opening having edgesdefined by edges of adjacent walls of said receptacle, said walls havinggroups of apertures therein of non-uniform shape, a lace insertedthrough the apertures for retaining said door in the closed position,and dissimilar shaped tips at the ends of said lace and of across-sectional shape similar to the shapes of the apertures of saidgroups, said receptacle being in the shape of a shoe, said door being inthe form of the tongue of the shoe.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said shoe and tongue are made offlexible material.

4. An educational toy comprising a receptacle provided with walls, saidreceptacle having an opening, a door movably connected with thereceptacle and controlling said opening, said opening having edgesdefined by edges of adjacent walls of said receptacle, said Walls havinggroups of apertures therein o-f non-uniform shape, a lace insertedthrough the apertures for retaining said door in the closed position,and dissimilar shaped tips at the ends of said lace and of across-sectional shape similar to the shapes of the apertures of saidgroups, said receptacle being in the shape of a shoe, said door being inthe form of the tongue of the shoe, a panel at the upper part of theshoe thereby closing the upper part of the shoe and leaving only thesaid opening as the means of entrance into the shoe.

5. An educational toy comprising a receptacle provided with walls, saidreceptacle having an opening, a door movably connected with thereceptacle and controlling said opening, said opening having edgesdefined by edges of adjacent walls of said receptacle, said walls havinggroups of apertures therein of non-uniform shape, a lace insertedthrough the apertures for retaining said door in the closed position,and dissimilar shaped tips at the ends of said lace and of across-sectional shape similar to the shapes ofjhe apertures of said--groups, said receptacle being in the shape of a shoe, said door being inthe form of the tongue of the shoe, a panel at the upper part of theshoe thereby closing the upper part of the shoe and leaving only thesaid opening as the means of entrance into the shoe, said groups ofapertures each including a plurality of alternately placed apertures ofsimilar shape, there being two different shapes of apertures in saidgroups, and there being two tips on said tures.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS HumeMar. 16, 1943 Essington Dec. 6, 1949 Zalkind May 29, 1956 Zalkind May29, 1956

